Galveston officials on Thursday night reported receiving an "unprecedented amount of water leaks due to frozen pipes" in the wake of temperatures that hovered in the 20s on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The City’s utility billing office has received over 3,000 phone calls over the last day and a half and expect the number to continue to rise," officials said in a news release.
"This is quickly becoming a water emergency, and we hope that residents will heed the message and help us to conserve the water we do have in reserves," City Manager Brian Maxwell said in a written statement.
Anderson said the city’s public works department completed the required sample testing on the water late Wednesday night.
Pearland officials discovered a malfunction at its water production facility at 3100 Kirby around 6 p.m. Wednesday: The water pressure had fallen below what’s required by state and federal law.
Treatment plants fail During the investigation, Anderson said, officials discovered that the root of the malfunction originated at Pearland’s other water treatment facility, on FM 521.
Anderson said it was unclear exactly how long the water pressure was lower than state and federal requirements and that this was part of the investigation – as well as why the FM 521 treatment facility’s fail-safe alarm failed.
In the meantime, Pearland businesses and residents struggled with the inconvenience of not having clean running water.
Boiling necessary Crystal Charles, an assistant manager at Josephine’s Day Spa and Salon, said that some of their clients were doused with water from a spray bottle, in lieu of clean tap water.
"Right now I’m about to boil water and try to wash some dishes – probably will take dishwashing three times as long," Davis said.

Northeast Temperatures were normal to above normal in New England with widespread precipitation over most of the region except for central Pennsylvania and western New York.
Some improvements were made to abnormally dry conditions in response to the greatest precipitation.
Moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions were also expanded in the central and northern portions of Alabama.In areas of southwestern Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, severe drought was expanded, and moderate drought was expanded in southeastern Georgia.
Extreme drought conditions were also pushed more to the west in southern Kansas.
Heavy rains impacted the region from southern Arkansas into western Tennessee.
Southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana had some improvement to the severe drought while moderate drought was improved over portions of eastern Texas.
Extreme drought was also expanded over northern Texas while moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions were expanded over most of the central portions of Texas.
Even with the precipitation in Oregon, the water year continues to be well below normal for precipitation, which allowed for the expansion of abnormally dry conditions in Oregon, western Idaho, and southern Washington.
Precipitation from the central Rocky Mountains will pass through the central Plains and into the upper Midwest and Great Lakes.
This should help bring the snow levels down over the western United States, allowing for snow accumulation to take place.The 6-10 day outlooks show that temperatures are anticipated to remain cooler than normal over the western and north central United States, with the greatest probability of below-normal temperatures over Montana and Wyoming.

Weather service: Drought conditions visible across state FLAGSTAFF (AP) — Drought conditions have returned to Arizona because of precipitation well below normal since August.
A drought monitor released Thursday by the National Weather Service shows much of extreme northern Arizona and northeastern Arizona in extreme drought and the rest of the state in moderate drought.
Current law exempts the first $2,500 of military pensions from state taxes.
The governor did not spell out in the speech how much he wants that increased.
Capitol Media Services Legislator on Pacific trip missing most of session’s start PHOENIX (AP) — A state representative who is missing most of the beginning of the Arizona Legislature’s annual session says her husband surprised her with a trip to the South Pacific rescheduled on short notice to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary and 50th birthdays.
Fish and Wildlife Service say flights will be conducted between Jan. 22 and Feb. 3 near Alpine, Arizona, and Reserve, New Mexico.
The last annual survey indicated there were at least 113 wolves.
EPA settles with company to assess uranium sites CAMERON (AP) — Federal officials have reached a settlement to have eight abandoned uranium mines assessed on the Navajo Nation.
Brnovich says current tuition and mandatory fees at Arizona State University are 315 percent higher than they were in the 2002-03 school year.
That figure is 325 percent for Northern Arizona University and 370 percent for the main campus of the University of Arizona.

Over the last 60 days, extensive areas of the country have recorded below 25 percent of normal precipitation, from the Southwest into the central Plains and Midwest as well as in the Southeast and into the Mid-Atlantic.
Most areas inland did not record any precipitation for the week, which continued the dry conditions that have been developing over the last 2-3 months.
Abnormally dry conditions were introduced into northwest and central Georgia as moderate drought conditions expanded over the western portions of the state.
No changes were made this week to the region as the impact of the precipitation in the region will be slow to materialize.
High Plains A dry week for the region, but also a very cold week, with most of the eastern portions of the region recording temperatures 5-10 degrees below normal.
South At the end of the current United States Drought Monitor period, the area from east Texas into southern Louisiana and southwest Mississippi recorded 1-2 inches of precipitation.
The dryness over the Texas and Oklahoma panhandle regions continued with an expansion of moderate and severe drought conditions this week and an introduction of extreme drought in Oklahoma.
Extreme drought also expanded in northern Texas.
Moderate drought and abnormally dry conditions were also expanded in portions of central, southern, and west Texas.
Drier than normal conditions are anticipated to mainly be over the areas of west Texas and southern New Mexico as well as along the coastal regions of the Southeast, with higher than normal chances of dry conditions along much of the east coast.

Crews responded to a water main break Thursday morning in North Charleston.
Dispatchers with the Charleston County Consolidated 911 Center tell us the break happened around 3:50 a.m. on Remount Road near Yeamans Hall Road.
We’re told the water was several inches deep for at least 200 yards.
The intersection was reopened around 6:00 a.m.
Heavy equipment was brought in around 6:45 a.m. Due to the water main break in the area, there is no water service at Matilda F. Dunston Primary School at this time, Charleston County School District officials say.
They say ground temperatures are much warmer than water in the pipes.
More water main breaks could happen, according to Charleston Water System.
The burst pipe on Remount Road was installed in 1926 , according to officials with Charleston Water Systems.
Thursday’s work marked the second time in as many days crews have been recalled to repair a water main break at Yeamans Hall and Remount roads.
——————– (ABC News 4’s Brodie Hart and Drew Tripp contributed information to this report.)

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) — The frigid temperatures are causing water mains to buckle throughout Kalamazoo and crews are working around the clock to fix the broken pipes.
Newschannel 3’s Franque Thompson was at a main break near Paterson and Douglass and the Kalamazoo Public Services Department said it will be a long winter.
Kalamazoo Department of Public Services Director James Baker said since December 24 they’ve seen new water main breaks about every day throughout the city.
She will have to wait for crews to fix a water main break she says she was never notified about.
Wilson said, “We would have been more prepared for it, would have known what’s going on because this is community we live in.
Baker said, “When that really cold weather hits, the ground starts to freeze and stars to move and strain on some of the old pipes in our network.” Baker says the department has been fixing water main breaks all over the city for almost two weeks straight.
And they worked at about 2:30 in the morning and they were at a point where they couldn’t go any further ahead.” Crews closed off the road near Paterson and Douglass for the neighborhood’s safety.
If we’re telling you not to drive on that area it’s for a good reason.
Your car could fall through where there’s no subgrade or sub base under a road structure.” There’s no telling how long the Paterson and Douglass repair will take and Wilson says she just hopes she has enough bottled water.
Wilson said, “This is what we have to do for the time being, just use bottles and clean bottles.”

Wild weather Tuesday wreaked havoc on the region’s water systems but safety plans were set in place, officials say.
The day started with a downed tree cutting power to the Japan Gulch water treatment facility in Langford.
The facility treats all the drinking water in the capital region.
Having it out of commission could have led to alternative treatment options to UV such as chlorine and possibly a boil water advisory.
Luckily, a new backup generator purchased by the Capital Regional District this spring kicked in until B.C.
Hydro was able to restore power by midday.
Matthew McCrank, a senior manager in infrastructure operations, said the CRD issued a wastewater discharge notice for a number of beaches in an “abundance of caution” after heavy rains caused stormwater and wastewater to overflow.
Sensors at pump stations detected the overflows and warnings were issued for Macaulay Point in Esquimalt, Clover Point in Victoria, McMicking Point, Hood, Humber and Rutland in Oak Bay, Finnerty Cove in Saanich, and Saanichton Bay in Central Saanich.
“As a result of these discharges, residents are advised to avoid entering the waters along the affected shorelines, as the wastewater may pose a health risk,” said a CRD statement.
McCrank said the lab results would likely be complete by the end of the week.

Between 2 and 4 inches fell from central and eastern Illinois eastward across central and northern sections of Indian and Ohio, Michigan, and northwestern Pennsylvania, and similar amounts were more isolated across the higher elevations of the northern Idaho Panhandle, south-central Idaho, western Wyoming and adjacent areas, and a few scattered areas in northern sections of Nevada and Utah.
Light to locally moderate precipitation was not enough to change things in the Northeast, and while very little precipitation fell on the mid-Atlantic region, cooler weather kept significant deterioration at bay.
As a result, short-term dryness continued to intensify at a fairly rapid clip, particularly from central Arkansas and adjacent Oklahoma southward.
This brought an end to the small area of moderate drought in western Indiana, and eliminated abnormal dryness in northeastern Ohio and part of central Illinois.
Farther west, dryness and drought were unchanged in southeastern Iowa.
Northern Plains Very little precipitation fell on northern Minnesota, the Dakotas and the dry areas of Montana, but this is a dry time of the year climatologically for the region, so no substantial increase in precipitation deficits was noted, and last week’s depiction was not changed.
West In the northern Intermountain West, light to moderate precipitation fell on the D0 areas in southern Idaho and interior Washington, with only scattered light amounts reported across interior Oregon; however, despite this week’s unimpressive precipitation, impacts resulting from below-normal precipitation have gradually eased over the past several weeks, and all abnormal dryness was removed from the region.
Abnormal dryness was introduced in central Utah, leaving only the northwestern part of the state free from dryness.
Temperatures are expected to average at least 9 degrees F above normal across the western half of the 48 states, reaching as high as 20 to 24 degrees F in central and northern sections of the Rockies and High Plains, as well as the central Intermountain West.
Odds favor below-median precipitation in the Southwest, central and southern sections of the Rockies and High Plains, most of the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley from South Dakota and central Minnesota southward to the Gulf Coast, and throughout the Nation east of the Mississippi River, save part of the northwestern Great Lakes Region.

2016 was a rough year for trees along Delaware Avenue.
The drought-like weather conditions wreaked havoc along the avenue.
By mid to late summer, numerous trees had been scorched, creating a scene right out of a Tim Burton movie.
Today, all of the dead trees are in the process of being removed.
Plus, there were even more dead trees waiting in line for lopping on the East Side, further towards Gates Circle.
I remember heading down Delaware Avenue last summer, thinking to myself how awful the drought had been, and how many of the trees were already dead or dying.
There are a lot of places in Buffalo that needs trees, but Delaware Avenue is one of the most important tree-lined streets in the city.
Newell Nussbaumer is ‘queenseyes’ – Eyes of the Queen City and Founder of Buffalo Rising.
winter festival.
Instigator behind Liberty Hound @ Canalside.

Based on historic weather patterns, the Midwestern United States can expect the drought of the century around 2025, according to Elwynn Taylor, a climatologist for Iowa State University Extension, Ames.
Taylor spoke Wednesday in Moline at the 10th annual Upper Mississippi River Conference hosted by River Action Inc., a Davenport-based environmental organization.
While the Earth’s climate is changing, some weather cycles recorded by actual data or discerned by studying tree rings is remarkably consistent, Taylor said.
This happened in 1847, 1936 and will likely happen again around 2025, he said.
Taylor spoke in a session that also included a talk about the "Dead Zone" in the Gulf of Mexico — where we stand and how we’re doing.
The zone is caused by algal blooms that consume oxygen.
These basins are "musts," she said.
• Private entities are helping to push change and innovation, and Smith sees great potential in this.
"Farmers will listen to their fertilizer man," Smith said.